I Was on SNAP Benefits, Then I Discovered This

Egg Sandwich (Photo – pixabay.com)

For more than a few years – since the economy imploded in ’08 – I have gotten progressively more poor. I was even on SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps). While on SNAP, I ate as cheaply as I could, mostly vegetables, fruit, rice and salads, with meat relegated to holidays. I won’t kid you – it wasn’t pretty and it certainly wasn’t very tasty.

By Robin Southworth

About this time last year, on one of my many travels around the internet, I ran across a PDF titled, “Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day,” by Leanne Brown. Not really a cookbook, but more of an idea/inspiration book.

(Photo – Robin Southworth).

I was bowled over. It was full of ideas and recipes that never occurred to me (toasting bread in a frying pan? Amazingly delicious!). One of those ideas was buying expensive – like $4/dozen expensive – eggs. I scoffed. Even though Leanne made a good argument (better flavor, only 33 cents/egg), I was skeptical. Until, at Trader Joe’s one day, the expensive, organic, free range eggs were a mere $0.30 more than my usual eggs. I bought a dozen of those expensive eggs.

WOW!

I saw the difference before I even tasted one. When I cracked that $0.33 egg into my skillet (for a fried egg sandwich), it didn’t spread all over the pan, but stayed in its spot in the skillet with the lovely yellow/orange yolk sitting high on the whites. It was a glorious sight to see. The egg flipped easily and, unlike regular eggs, the yolk didn’t break.

“What about taste?” I hear you say. It tasted like a real egg. Like I remember eggs tasting from the childhood (back in the Bronze Age).

That one egg was all it took. I am now a confirmed buyer of expensive (i.e. organic, free-range) eggs. I cannot force you to buy expensive eggs, but I can encourage you to buy one dozen as an experiment and see what you think.

I also encourage you to find Leanne’s book in your local library or bookstore. If you purchase a copy, the publisher will donate a book to someone who needs it.

Cover of “Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4Day” (Photo – Robin Southworth).

Happy Eating!